U.S., Japan, South Korea warn North Korea over 'provocations'

Jeff Mason and Matt Spetalnick

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama joined South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, vowing to ramp up pressure on North Korea in response to its recent nuclear and missile tests.

Meeting on the sidelines of a global nuclear security summit in Washington, the three leaders recommitted their countries to each others' defense and warned they could take further steps to counter threats from Pyongyang.

Obama held separate talks with President Xi Jinping of China, the closest North Korea has to an ally, and said they both wanted to see "full implementation" of the latest United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang.

But Xi offered no sign that China was prepared to go beyond its consent to the Security Council measures imposed in early March.

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"We are united in our efforts to deter and defend against North Korean provocations," Obama told reporters after the U.S.-Japan-South Korea meeting. "We have to work together to meet this challenge."

Relations between Park and Abe have been frosty in the past, but the two have been brought together in recent months by shared concerns about North Korea, which conducted a fourth nuclear bomb test on Jan. 6 and launched a long-range rocket in February.

The United States has sought to encourage improved ties between South Korea and Japan, its two biggest allies in Asia, given worries not only about North Korea but also an increasingly assertive China.

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The expanded U.N. sanctions aimed at starving North Korea of funds for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs were approved in a unanimous Security Council vote on a resolution drafted by the United States and China.

Even though China has signed on, doubts persist in the West on how far it will go in tightening the screws on impoverished North Korea, given China's concerns about fueling instability on its borders.

Appearing later with Obama, Xi said that while Washington and Beijing disagreed in some areas, they have had "effective communication and coordination" on North Korea.

However, China, considered the most capable of influencing North Korea's leadership, has said repeatedly that sanctions are not the solution and only a resumption of international talks can resolve the dispute.

Six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia aimed at curbing the North's nuclear ambitions collapsed in 2008.

Xi called for dialogue to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, but also said all parties should avoid doing anything to raise tensions, China's foreign ministry said.

He alluded to a missile defense system the United States wants to base in South Korea that China opposes, saying no party should do anything to affect the security interests of other countries or that upsets the regional strategic balance.

Thursday's meetings took place as leaders from more than 50 countries gathered for a two-day summit hosted by Obama and focused on securing vulnerable atomic materials to prevent nuclear terrorism. North Korea's nuclear defiance was high on the agenda.

Notably absent is Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding to doubts that a meeting without one of the world's top nuclear powers can yield major results.

Despite that, a joint U.S.-China statement showed the two countries, while rivals on trade and at odds over the South China Sea, agreeing to work together to investigate and curb nuclear smuggling and to hold annual talks on the issue.

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama takes part in a trilateral meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Seated with members of his delegation, U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama stands behind as South Korean President Park Geun-Hye (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands at the end of their trilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks on after their trilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their trilateral meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye after their trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington March 31, 2016.

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

'MISGUIDED CALCULUS'

Obama said he, Park and Abe had directed their teams to come up with additional steps they can take collectively against North Korea.

Park said the leaders had discussed ways to force North Korea to "alter its misguided calculus" on its weapons programs, and Abe expressed a commitment to strengthening three-way security cooperation.

The meeting came just days after Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump caused an uproar by suggesting that Japan and South Korea should be allowed to build their own nuclear arsenals, putting him at odds with decades of U.S. policy.

Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said Trump's comments did not come up in the three leaders' discussions. But he said: "It would be catastrophic were the United States to shift its position and indicate that we support somehow the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional countries."

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Obama has less than 10 months left in office to follow through on one of his signature foreign policy initiatives – locking down as much of the world's nuclear materials as possible - and this week's meeting is his fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit.

While progress has been made, some arms-control advocates say the process seems to have lost momentum and could slow even further once Obama leaves office in January.

A boycott by Russia, apparently unwilling to join in a U.S.-dominated gathering at a time of tension between Washington and Moscow, especially over Ukraine, could detract from any decisions made at the summit.

The militant attacks in Brussels on March 22 have fueled concern that Islamic State could target nuclear plants, steal material and develop radioactive "dirty bombs".

Xi raised his concern about such attacks at a banquet.

"As international terrorist activities have entered a new phase of increasing activity, the threat of nuclear terrorism particularly cannot be ignored," China's foreign ministry cited him as saying.